Should I Give Up Now?

[Jumbo2]

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I always wanted to be a doctor, but lately I am growing more and more discouraged. I am going into my senior year of college now, and these are my stats:

Tufts University
Major - Biopsychology

cumulative GPA - 3.04
science GPA - ~3.00

I have yet to take the MCAT, plus I have one more year of college to boost my GPA's.
As for EC's, I am getting my certification as an EMT through a course at my school, and I will get some hours of experience through that.

What's more, I'm an immigrant to the United States if that counts for anything (Albanian).

What do I need to do to have a shot?

If I finish up as strong as possible this last year, I can realistically attain a 3.2 - 3.3...

Should I look into a post-bacc program?
I would hate to spend that money if I'm only going to end up getting rejected anyway.
Should I apply first and then take the post-bacc program?
Or should i just give up now? 😕

 

[Goro]

Get you're GPAs up >3.1 and score at least a 25 on MCAT, and you're fine for most DO programs. As of right now, you're not competitive at all for any MD program.

If you have your heart set on the latter, then yes, good performance in an SMP (preferably one given by a medical school) will show AdComs you can handle medical school.

So, no, applying to MD programs now will lead to automatic rejections.

I always wanted to be a doctor, but lately I am growing more and more discouraged. I am going into my senior year of college now, and these are my stats:

Tufts University
Major - Biopsychology

cumulative GPA - 3.04
science GPA - ~3.00

I have yet to take the MCAT, plus I have one more year of college to boost my GPA's.
As for EC's, I am getting my certification as an EMT through a course at my school, and I will get some hours of experience through that.

What's more, I'm an immigrant to the United States if that counts for anything (Albanian).

What do I need to do to have a shot?

If I finish up as strong as possible this last year, I can realistically attain a 3.2 - 3.3...

Should I look into a post-bacc program?
I would hate to spend that money if I'm only going to end up getting rejected anyway.
Should I apply first and then take the post-bacc program?
Or should i just give up now? 😕

 

[DoctorDachshund]

Nursing.

 

[Jumbo2]

Get you're GPAs up >3.1 and score at least a 25 on MCAT, and you're fine for most DO programs.

Would I necessarily have to do a Masters of Science program in order to be considered? Those are insanely expensive. Would a post-bacc program in which I simply retake the science courses I did poorly in be sufficient?

Also, what if I scored 32+ on the MCAT? Would that get me considered for MD?

Nursing.

I don't want to be a nurse, Dr. Weenie...

P.S.

Does the name of my undergraduate institution have no bearing at all? I could have easily gone to a state school and pulled a 3.7+, but I instead chose the best, most rigorous college I could get into. Will admissions committees realize this?

 

[Jason525]

Would I necessarily have to do a Masters of Science program in order to be considered? Those are insanely expensive. Would a post-bacc program in which I simply retake the science courses I did poorly in be sufficient?

Also, what if I scored 32+ on the MCAT? Would that get me considered for MD?



I don't want to be a nurse, Dr. Weenie...

P.S.

Does the name of my undergraduate institution have no bearing at all? I could have easily gone to a state school and pulled a 3.7+, but I instead chose the best, most rigorous college I could get into. Will admissions committees realize this?

Lolz, delete this before the state school peasants see it

 

[Goro]

Look, AdComs want to know that you can handle a medical school curriculum, which is at least 3-5x harder in terms of difficulty and intensity of any UG program. So far you haven't done that. .

Re-taking the low-grade courses (F/C/D) would put you into a better position for DO programs, thanks to AACOMAS' grade replacement policy. But for MD programs, do either the SMP, or a thorough and rigorous post-bac, which plenty of med school-like course work, like anatomy, physiology, pharm, micro etc.

I've seen the costs for 1 year programs run from $13-20,000.

Would I necessarily have to do a Masters of Science program in order to be considered? Those are insanely expensive. Would a post-bacc program in which I simply retake the science courses I did poorly in be sufficient?


A good MCAT means that you're a good test taker, and that you learned something from your UG. For MD programs, it will NOT rescue a low GPA.
Also, what if I scored 32+ on the MCAT? Would that get me considered for MD?


It counts a little bit, for a borderline candidatse (ie, someone with a 3.4-3.5), but not for you.

Does the name of my undergraduate institution have no bearing at all?


I could have easily gone to a state school and pulled a 3.7+, but I instead chose the best, most rigorous college I could get into.

 

[Jumbo2]

Should I just apply to a D.O. school then?

I had my heart set on UMass Medical, but it seems like the road to MD will cost me thousands and thousands and at least a couple of years...Is the difference in degrees even worth that cost?

One more question:

What should I add to my EC's to be competitive?

So far, I will only have EMT certification and hours working as an EMT. That counts as clinical experience. But what else should I do?

 

[zedonks]

Talk to your prehealth office at Tufts, if you guys have one (I'm sure you do). They can help advise you. I think you should try working in a lab after graduating if you can to a) pay bills and b) get some research experience- which is good for med school.

Or, if you have trouble getting a research job, work as a professional EMT.

I think you want to wait a year or two at least before applying to med school, but check with your prehealth advisors on this.

 

[chillaxbro]

>projected 35
>tufts is tough boo hoo
>people in state schools get 4.0 while people at my school struggle for a 3.0
>i'm an immigrant so I get a boost
WAS THIS YOU?

 

[Jumbo2]

Talk to your prehealth office at Tufts, if you guys have one (I'm sure you do). They can help advise you. I think you should try working in a lab after graduating if you can to a) pay bills and b) get some research experience- which is good for med school.

Or, if you have trouble getting a research job, work as a professional EMT.

I think you want to wait a year or two at least before applying to med school, but check with your prehealth advisors on this.

Yeah that's what my adviser said. He was the one who advised me to take the EMT course and get clinical experience working as an EMT.

He also said I should wait two years before applying.
I'm fine with waiting and getting clinical experience and stuff, but it's the super expensive post-bacc programs that are deterring me. Is it worth it to go through all that trouble when i could just apply to some D.O. programs right out of college?

Is working as a professional EMT considered a good EC?

>projected 35
>tufts is tough boo hoo
>people in state schools get 4.0 while people at my school struggle for a 3.0
>i'm an immigrant so I get a boost
WAS THIS YOU?

Yes. It was ;___;

also...LOL at "permavirgin"...m-me too

 

[Dbate]

Does the name of my undergraduate institution have no bearing at all? I could have easily gone to a state school and pulled a 3.7+, but I instead chose the best, most rigorous college I could get into. Will admissions committees realize this?

No.

Tufts is not regarded as a difficult school and it is most commonly used as a safety school for people applying to top notch colleges.

Don't insult state schools by arrogantly assuming you could have pulled a 3.7+. A 3.0 at any school is unacceptable and even more so when there are people at much better schools than Tufts (read Ivies and the like), who are getting much better GPAs.


I can only speak to the influence of GPA at my own school (a HYP) and our GPAs are not typically viewed in a better light than individuals from state schools. So I doubt Tufts will carry any weight.

 

[Goro]

Yes, strongly suggest it.

Should I just apply to a D.O. school then?

Nope. DO = MD. And no one ever said that medical school is cheap.

I had my heart set on UMass Medical, but it seems like the road to MD will cost me thousands and thousands and at least a couple of years...Is the difference in degrees even worth that cost?

You have the patient contact experience, but you need to show your altruism and humanity. Try reading to kids at the library, work in a hospice or nursing home; Habitat for Humanity, go on a medical mission, work at the American Red Cross; be a Big Brother/Sister. There's LOTS of things you can do!

Also, show us that you know what you're getting into by shadowing MDs and DOs, and volunteer in a hospital or clinic so you see what a doctor's life is like.

And there's always research.

What should I add to my EC's to be competitive?

So far, I will only have EMT certification and hours working as an EMT. That counts as clinical experience. But what else should I do?[/QUOTE]

 

[Jumbo2]

Nope. DO = MD. And no one ever said that medical school is cheap.

What do you mean? You're saying No, I should not apply to D.O. school if I had my heart set on Umass Medical? If they are equivalent, then it shouldn't matter much. You said I would have a decent shot at D.O. programs if I got a 30 on MCAT, which I think I can do.

Anyway, I appreciate the advice about ways to show my humanity through EC's. I will do some volunteering at Mass General Hospital + Shadowing a Physician before I apply.

I doubt Tufts will carry any weight.

I think it might carry some weight if applying to Tufts Medical School. In fact, my adviser told me so explicitly.

 

[Goro]

Sorry for the confusion, I meant don't apply to U MA because your stats aren't competitive for them, even though it's your home state. You are indeed fine for many DO programs.

What do you mean? You're saying No, I should not apply to D.O. school if I had my heart set on Umass Medical? If they are equivalent, then it shouldn't matter much. You said I would have a decent shot at D.O. programs if I got a 30 on MCAT, which I think I can do.

Anyway, I appreciate the advice about ways to show my humanity through EC's. I will do some volunteering at Mass General Hospital + Shadowing a Physician before I apply.



I think it might carry some weight if applying to Tufts Medical School. In fact, my adviser told me so explicitly.

 

[pandahunter]

What do you mean? You're saying No, I should not apply to D.O. school if I had my heart set on Umass Medical? If they are equivalent, then it shouldn't matter much. You said I would have a decent shot at D.O. programs if I got a 30 on MCAT, which I think I can do.

Anyway, I appreciate the advice about ways to show my humanity through EC's. I will do some volunteering at Mass General Hospital + Shadowing a Physician before I apply.



I think it might carry some weight if applying to Tufts Medical School. In fact, my adviser told me so explicitly.

naw... you should take a look at the MSAR stats for Tufts Medical School. I think the lowest GPA of a student that matriculated was a 3.5 or something. Most schools won't really care if you went to their undergrad.

 

[mspeedwagon]

My two cents to this thread:

- Your adviser has given you great advice (which is rare). I couldn't agree more that you need to build clinical experience and raise your GPA some (I did a post-bac to raise my 3.5 cGPA / 3.25 sGPA and finish off a few classes I was missing previously).

- Don't assume a 32. I made that mistake and learned the MCAT is more challenging than I had anticipated (and I anticipated a challenge). Despite what it looks like here on SDN, low GPA and high MCAT are not exceedingly common. Nor is someone contemplating re-taking a 34 (there was another thread on here with that).

- DO vs MD will matter in some areas and it won't in others. You'd probably have a very hard time becoming a big pharma doctor with a DO. Also, some older MDs frown on DO, but that generation is now retiring. Also, with the combined match no one really knows what will happen or even when the combined match will happen. I know for my purposes DO is great and I'll be applying MD/DO. Do some research and think about what you want to do long term.

- Tufts is not known for grade deflation (MIT, Notre Dame, U of Chicago and a few other such schools are notorious for it... admin committees know the schools that deflate grades). Tufts is definitely known as the safety school for Ivy League applicants (I myself was admitted and decided not to attend upon acceptance into the Ivy League)... however, this isn't really relevant for med school applications. As many have said, get over the you'd have a 3.75 at a state school. I've taken classes at Harvard, Brown, Stanford, Northeastern, UC Berkeley and Canada College (my local community here). I'd say that, with the exception of at the community college (which definitely had grade inflation) grades are somewhat equivalent at most institutions, especially in the sciences.

- Finally, if you really want it, the time to give up is after your second cycle of being rejected.